"The History of the Fleet Street House": 20 p. at the end of v. 18.

As the last leader of the Chartist movement, Ernest Charles Jones (1819-69) is a significant historical figure, but he is just as well-known for his political verse. His prison-composed epic The New World lays claim to being the first poetic exploration of Marxist historical materialism, and his caustic short lyric ‘The Song of the Low’ appears in most modern anthologies of Victorian poetry. Despite the prominence of Jones’s verse in Labour history circles, and several major inclusions in critical discussions of working-class Victorian literature, this volume represents the first full-length study of his poetry. Through close analysis and careful contextualization, this work traces Jones’s poetic development from his early German and British Romantic influences through his radicalization, imprisonment, and years of leadership. The poetry of this complex and controversial figure is here fully mapped for the first time.

Volume XI of the Dictionary of Labour Biography maintains the strengths of earlier contributions to this well established and authoritative series. It incorporates many scholarly and original studies of Labour movement figures from a variety of periods and backgrounds together with special notes on related and neglected topics. Volume XI pays particular attention to the role and contributions of women and the multi-nationality of the British Labour movement. Each entry is accompanied by a thorough bibliography and incorporates the most recent historical scholarship in the field.